All You Need To Know About Diploma Translation

If you are looking for diploma and transcript translation services right now, it probably means you are at an exciting turning point in your life. You might be applying for a bachelor’s or master’s degree at a foreign university, planning to start a new job in a new country, or you might even be in the midst of an immigration process. It’s not easy, is it? Doing anything in a foreign country usually means you have to deal with long and tedious bureaucratic processes like visa applications and need to translate a myriad of official documents, but applying to universities or big corporations is another beast. You might have endless questions in your mind about translation quality, certified diploma translation, or the translation cost. We have created this diploma translation guide to answer all the questions you might have and to help you navigate translation-related challenges in this exciting but stressful time. If you still have some unanswered questions after reading this guide, please don’t hesitate to contact MotaWord Support.

Why Do You Need Your Diploma Translated?

There are usually three main reasons for needing diploma translation services: school applications, employment, and immigration. No matter where you are planning to submit your translated diploma, the diploma translation process tends to be very similar, but there can also be minor differences. Let’s take a look.

School Application

When you check the list of high-ranking universities, it is hard not to notice that many of the best schools in the world are from English-speaking countries like the United States or the United Kingdom. For many high-achieving and ambitious students, the school application process starts with diploma translation to English. Depending on your level of education, you might need to translate your high school diploma, college diploma, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, graduate diploma, or a combination of these diplomas. To make sure your school application goes as smoothly as possible, it can be a good idea to check—and then double check—which of your diplomas you need to submit.

A prospective employer might not care about your GPA or the courses you took during your time in college, but universities are definitely going to want to take a look at your academic transcript. To show you are eligible for their program, do not forget to translate and submit the necessary transcripts. Another thing that you should remember is to submit copies of your original diplomas and transcripts. As translated diplomas and transcripts are not usually considered official documents on their own, your application can be rejected if you do not provide copies of the original documents.

If you are applying to universities or colleges in the U.S. or the U.K., you would also need a translation certificate. Universities in the European Union, on the other hand, might ask for notarization or an apostille. We are going to discuss the requirements of these documents later in this blog post.

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Employment

When it comes to job applications, requirements for diploma translation can drastically change from company to company. You most likely would not need academic transcript translation, and you might not even need your diploma translation to be certified. It all depends on the employer. If your employer has special translation requirements about certification and formatting, you can contact MotaWord’s support team to leave a note for translators and reviewers.

Immigration

No matter which country you are emigrating to, immigration agencies tend to have strict rules for transcript and diploma translation. Usually, the translated documents need to be error-free and complete, the formatting needs to be similar to the original or follow a certain pattern, and the translation needs to be certified. If you are applying for a Green Card or emigrating to the U.S. through other means, we suggest reading MotaWord’s complete guide to Certified Translations for USCIS to learn more about the immigration process.

What To Look For When Choosing A Diploma Translation Service?

While it is a good idea to consider the translation rate, speed, and ease of use when deciding on the diploma translation service you are going to work with, there are three main factors you just cannot do without: accuracy and completeness, formatting, and certification. If the translation agency does not get these three factors right, you run the risk of your application being rejected. So, how can you make sure that the agencies can deliver the high quality you need?

Accuracy And Completeness

Diplomas usually contain very little text, which means that even the smallest error can be very noticeable. Unlike other translation fields like marketing translation or website translation, even a small change in meaning or a small omission is unacceptable for official translations. To ensure that the translation of your diploma or transcript is accurate, complete, and admissible, the first step is to work with experienced professional translators who are perfectly proficient in both the source and the target language. Translation of academic transcripts is usually more complicated than diploma translation because course titles can contain technical vocabulary that can be location-specific. For transcript translation, you should either look for experienced academic translators or translators that have specialized in your particular field (such as medical translators). Of course, experience and proficiency are not always enough. After all, to err is human, and even the most experienced translators make mistakes from time to time. No matter how confident an agency is in their translators, it is not a good idea to work with a translation agency that does not have a review and QA step in their diploma translation process. We suggest asking these questions:

• How does the agency choose its translators? Is there a screening process?
• Is there a review step? Does the agency use QA tools to eliminate technical issues?

Formatting

Universities and immigration agencies can be strict about acceptable file types and formatting. It can be a good idea to look for agencies that offer formatting services and have experience with certified official translations. You can also ask about the file format of the delivery. PDF is usually a good option since many institutions prefer receiving files in this format, and it is relatively easy to convert and print PDF files if necessary.

Certification

Employers can have specific requirements about certified translations of diplomas, but most universities and immigration agencies will require your translations to be certified. Certified translation is a broad concept, and certification requirements usually depend on the institution you are applying to and the country or region this institution is in. You might be asked to notarize your diploma translation, to work with sworn translators, or to submit a translation certificate or an apostille. If you are not sure which document you need or would like to learn more about the differences between these certification methods, you can read MotaWord’s guide to official translation. If you need a certified English translation of a diploma for a college or Green Card application, you usually need to certify your diploma translation with a translation certificate. A translation certificate is a signed document that affirms the accuracy and completeness of the translation. As this document needs to be signed by the translator, the translation agency should deliver a translation certificate along with your translated diploma.

Diploma Translation Workflow

Now that we have covered the basics of diploma translation, it’s time to take an in-depth look at MotaWord’s diploma translation workflow. People say that the devil is in the details, and learning the details of diploma and transcript translation will help you choose the best translation service for your needs.

MotaWord’s translation team prides itself on offering high translation quality, record-high translation speeds, affordable translation rates, and a seamless diploma translation service. Let’s see how MotaWord’s unique approach to translation helps its team deliver on these promises:

Learn The Translation Cost Instantly

One of the best features of MotaWord is how easy it is to learn the cost of your translation project. All you need to do is visit MotaWord’s quote page and choose your language pair to get an instant quote. And there’s more! Unlike other official translation services, there are no minimum charges and no certification fees for MotaWord’s diploma translation service.

Submit Your Documents In Any Format You’d Like

When you work with MotaWord, you won’t need to deal with the hassle of file conversion. You can submit your diplomas and transcripts in any format you’d like, and MotaWord will convert them to translation-friendly formats.

Get Matched With The Best Professional Translators

After your files are converted, MotaWord matches your translation project with translators who have the necessary experience and skillset. All of MotaWord’s translators go through a rigorous screening process before they are accepted, so you can be sure that your diploma is in safe hands.

Collaborative Translation

MotaWord uses a collaborative translation system that allows multiple professionals to work on a single document simultaneously. Thanks to this system, you can receive your translated diplomas and transcripts in a matter of hours—even if you have a very extensive education history and submit multiple documents at the same time.

Review + QA

When the translation is complete, the translation of your diploma is reviewed by other experienced translators to ensure that there aren’t any errors or omissions in the final document. Translators also use QA tools to eliminate any errors a human eye can miss—like a numerical error in a long graduate course code.

Formatting

MotaWord tries to retain the original formatting as much as possible and delivers your translated diploma as a PDF file.

Free-Of-Charge Certification

If you are applying to a U.S. college or trying to get a U.S. visa, submitting a translation certificate is a must. If you need a certified diploma translation, MotaWord will deliver a valid certificate completely free of charge.

24/7 Customer Support

If you have any questions or concerns about any translation step, you can start chatting with MotaWord’s customer support team right away. From payment issues to special requests, MotaWord representatives are always there to solve all your problems.

Quick Delivery

The last step is, of course, delivery. Thanks to its unique system, MotaWord can deliver the best quality in the shortest time frame. In just a couple of hours, you will receive a translated and reviewed version of your diploma, along with a translation certificate.

FAQs

Are There Any Disadvantages To Online Diploma Translation?

Not really. There is only one possible downside of online diploma translation: you would need to print your translated diploma and translation certificate if you needed to submit paper copies for a college application. Considering that many university, job, and immigration applications are submitted online, we can easily say that the benefits of online diploma translation far outweigh its disadvantages. Online diploma and transcript translation services tend to be faster, more affordable, and much more convenient.

Can I Use Google Translation Or Similar Translation Tools For Diploma Translation?

You usually need certified diploma translation for university applications, and the translation certificate needs to be signed by a translator or a representative of a translation agency. Google Translation or other machine translation tools cannot provide this document, and there isn’t any way to prove that the automatically generated translation is accurate and complete. So, no, it’s not possible to use Google Translation or similar translation tools for transcript or diploma translation.

How Long Does Foreign Diploma Translation Take?

Since diplomas aren’t very long and they follow a similar pattern, diploma translation usually doesn’t take much time at all. Especially if you are working with commonly spoken languages like English, Spanish, or Arabic, you can receive a certified diploma translation in a matter of hours.

Which File Formats Are Accepted?

MotaWord accepts all file formats. You can submit PDF files, scanned images, or even photos of your diploma.

Do I need to translate my diploma?

The requirements of the institution or organization you are submitting your diploma to will determine if you need to translate it. In some circumstances, a certified translation may be necessary for immigration, school applications, or employment, especially if the diploma is not in the official language of the nation or institution. For proper translations, it is crucial to review the specific requirements of the receiving body and, if necessary, engage a certified translator.

How do I translate my diploma?

In order to translate your diploma, you can either work with a freelance translator  or  a specialized translation company. Give them a copy of your original diploma and let them know the language you want it to be in. Ask about certified translation services if your diploma needs to be formally acknowledged. Keep copies of your diplomas, both the original and the translation, for your records.